I affirm by my pride that I die daily

 

I affirm by my pride that I die daily

 

1 Corinthians 15:29-31

“If the dead (nekron) are never raised (egeirontai), what then can those who are baptized for the dead do? Why are they baptized for them? And why do we always face danger? Brothers, I affirm by my pride in you in Christ Jesus our Lord that I die daily (apodesko).”

 

The dead (nekron νεκρῶν) refer to those whose relationship with God has been severed. Egeirontai signifies spiritual revival. The purpose of baptism is for the physical body to die and to be born again into a spiritual body. In other words, it is being born again of water and the Spirit. However, the passage asks: what use is being baptized if one does not live spiritually? It implies that in order to live spiritually, the physical body must first die.

 

In Romans 8:10, it states, "And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness." The "body" refers to the body of sin (sarx), a concept also mentioned in Romans 6:6: "And we know that our old self was crucified with Jesus so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and that we might no longer be slaves to sin."

 

Believers who have been baptized and believe they are born again still possess a physical body, and thus experience the physical body coming to life. The Apostle Paul’s statement that "I die daily" signifies the death of the physical body; it means to remember that because it comes to life and moves daily, we have died daily. The spiritual warfare of a saint is between the mind of the spirit and the mind of the flesh. It is a battle against oneself.

 

If one does not properly establish one's identity, the phrase "denying oneself" does not apply. To deny oneself means to have nailed the physical body to the cross with Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is to believe that one has been born again as a new creation. 1 Corinthians 15:32-33: “If I fought with wild beasts in Ephesus by human means, what good would it do me? If the dead are not raised, they say, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’ Do not be deceived. Bad company corrupts good morals. Be awake and do what is right, and do not sin. I say this to shame you, for there are some who do not know God.”

 

The point is: what meaning is there if a believer fights wild beasts for a non-believer, but that non-believer does not come to life spiritually? If a person does not come to life spiritually and possess resurrection life, there is no purpose to living in this world. They simply eat, drink, and live until they face physical death.

 

Believers who do not possess faith in the resurrection can torment those who do. A believer with resurrection faith is a new creation sent down from heaven who pursues heavenly things. Therefore, they are one who dies to the world and lives for God. However, because bad company does not believe in present resurrection life, they live only with carnal eyes. Paul explains resurrection by likening it to a seed. He explains that just as a farmer sows a seed, the outer shell dies, and the life within, which is yet to be revealed, emerges into the earth and takes on a form. He states that every living creature possesses its own distinct body, and that one can see it revealing its glory after the seed is sown. The life of the embryo confined within the seed is dead in the seed state, but when the seed is sown in the ground and the shell dies, the embryo inside comes alive from its dead state into life. He explains that the human spirit is like this in the same way.

 

Resurrection is the process in which the spirit, confined within the flesh, rises first, and that spirit appears as a new creation, clothed in a spiritual body that comes from heaven. In 1 Peter 3:18, it states, "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit."

 

Those united with Christ become those who, likewise, are put to death in the flesh and made alive in the spirit within Christ. Therefore, that spirit puts on a spiritual body. Since being clothed in a spiritual body is not subject to the constraints of time and space, we can see that the resurrected Jesus suddenly broke through a wall to appear to His disciples, and His body was transfigured in the presence of two disciples on the road to Emmaus.

 

Saints, too, must appear in Christ in such a manner, but the reason they fail to do so is that the flesh still stands in the way. When the skin of the flesh is cast off, one will experience such an amazing and mysterious body.

 

The appearance of the resurrected is also compared to that of an angel. Luke 20:35-36 states, "Those who are deemed worthy to be in the world to come and to be resurrected from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage; they can no longer die, for they are like the angels, and as children of the resurrection, they are children of God." And Matthew 22:30 says, "At the resurrection, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but will be like the angels in heaven." Angels are spirits. However, angels also appear in the world clothed in spiritual bodies.

 

Genesis 18:1-3 states, "The Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre. It was hot, and he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. When he looked up, he saw three men standing opposite him. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them, bowing down to the ground and saying, 'My Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant.'" The Bible portrays the Lord and the two angels as human beings. They appeared to Abraham clothed in spiritual bodies. It is said that they ate milk and cooked calf food.

 

Jesus also describes Himself as having appeared in the Old Testament. In John 8:55-59, it is stated that He existed before Abraham was born. It is also said that He lived with him.

 

In Genesis 14:18, it says, "Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High." Hebrews 7 states that this Melchizedek is Jesus, implying that Abraham met Jesus. Abraham gave a tenth to King Melchizedek.

 

Hebrews 11:24-26 states that Moses met Christ. After Jesus' resurrection, in Luke 24:27, while walking along the road and conversing with two disciples, He said, "Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He explained to them all the Scriptures concerning Himself." He is saying that He is Jesus Christ. And on the shores of the Sea of ​​Galilee, He speaks the same words in Chapter 24, Verse 44: "And He said to them, 'This is what I told you while I was with you: that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.'" This means that the "I" refers to Jesus Christ. Ultimately, it means that the Jehovah God of the Old Testament era is none other than Jesus Christ.